New Forum suggestion

[dazzler]

Hi

would it be possible to have a "tool review" forum which is locked once the first one has been posted?

This is so that tool reviews can be posted but the thread remain uncluttered and much easier to search.

When searching for a specific items such as a Ryobi Thicknesser you end up with so many threads it takes a loooong time to get the info you need particularly when the thread gets hijacked or full of $#@.

If you wanted to find a specific review on a tool you could first search the tool review and at least any links would be easy to view. It may also lead to more people searching as many just give up.

just a thought

dazzler

[silentC]

Only downside I can see to that is that people often want to ask questions about the review or maybe about the tool/machine that weren't answered in the review. How would we do that if it was locked? I reckon a lot of the discussion that goes on following the actual review is just as valuable if not more so.

[B.J.Honeycut]

I'd have to agree with silentC on this one. The discussion is as valuable as the review. Surely the original review would be the first post and easy enough to find. Maybe some sort of standard for the title would help? Containing the word Review, the manufacturer, Model No (if aplicable) or description.

i.e. Title: "Review: Carbatec 8" Jointer"

That way you could do a search on title only and get useful results.

[dazzler]

Hi

I agree with you both. However if you do a search such as "ryobi thicknesser" you end up with a huge result. Thats fine but most threads start out ok but then deteriorate particularly when hijackers get on.

You are right about more info being available as it is discussed so I am directing this as a more formal thing with a fairly strict order

such as "Ryobi Thicknesser" in the title and then a very specific review.


EXAMPLE EXAMPLE EXAMPLE

Triton Router

I have the new triton router. I paid $359 at bunnings Brunie Island.

Pros
very powerful, high quality manufacture, designed for and fits triton router table very well, bit change above table is a great feature. Dust extraction is very good.

Cons
Reasonably expensive, handles not very ergonomic, feels top heavy, black plastic baseplate easily scratched, plunge lock seems strange but okay with use.

Recommendations
I would buy this router again if used mainly for table use. In the table it is almost faultless. I would not buy it if I intended to use it hand held though.

EXAMPLE EXAMPLE EXAMPLE

Perhaps a protected field or proforma if that is possible. Might be off at a tangent here but think it might be of use. Say if I was interested in buying a tablesaw. I could search this forum for "tablesaw" and all the tablesaw reviews would come up.

If there were heaps I could limit it by "tablesaw 10" and find all the ten inch saws.

Or I could search by "tablesaw carbatec" or similar.

anyways thats what I'm talking about, a more structured fora.

cheers

dazzler

[adrian]

I don't think you can lock off a review thread after the first post unless the source of the post was not based on personal prejudice.
For instance, if I was to write a review of my experience of the MC900 lathe and it was to be held up as a bona fide review it would turn a few people off what most users seem to have found to be a good lathe for the price.
I would like to see more sub-forums such as Table Saw, Bandsaw, Lathe etc under the general heading of Machinery. If you look at this site you will see what I mean.
http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/
The reason for the sub-forums is that a general search on a particular item will result in the majority of posts being irrelevant such as a search for info on bandsaws finding - "my next purchase will probably be a bandsaw."
At least if there is a bandsaw sub-forum in Machinery you will know that almost all posts will be relevant. to the subject.

[ubeaut]

Adrian - There is already a Bandsaw sub forum under Tools and Machinery, you can find it on the first page of the forums.

The difference between our forum and the one you suggested is that we choose to show the sub forums on the front page rather than having the members search throught forum headings with a mess of hard to find sub forums listed in each heading. Not running down the other forum - But trying to find a particular subforum looks like a bit of a hard work to me.

Then again so is scrolling down the page looking for them. But I really don't think there is an easier way. If you wish our forums to look the same way as the others, click on the arrow button to the right of the forum header. We don't list all the subforums though.

Cheers - Neil

[adrian]

Adrian - There is already a Bandsaw sub forum under Tools and Machinery, you can find it on the first page of the forums.

The difference between our forum and the one you suggested is that we choose to show the sub forums on the front page rather than having the members search throught forum headings with a mess of hard to find sub forums listed in each heading. Not running down the other forum - But trying to find a particular subforum looks like a bit of a hard work to me.

Then again so is scrolling down the page looking for them. But I really don't think there is an easier way. If you wish our forums to look the same way as the others, click on the arrow button to the right of the forum header. We don't list all the subforums though.

Cheers - Neil

Sorry, I was using a "for instance" and picked the wrong one.
I wasn't suggesting that the basic look of the forum needs to be changed. The look is fine.
The problem as I see it is that the forum is now large enough for information to be more compartmentalised.
By way of explanation, when you set up a house you can get by with all your paperwork stuffed in a draw somewhere and there is no great problem when you search for something. You soon find, however, that the more paperwork you accumulate the harder it is to find something. Before long you are buying a filing cabinet.
You have seen from recent posts about the "do a search" mentality that people are having extreme difficulty finding relevent information. Try doing a search on 'tablesaw' and see the junk you have to wade through where people just mention a tablesaw when talking about other machinery.
As for the difficulty in scrolling through sub-forums, it's not rocket science. I have no doubt that many of the users of this forum have sub folders in their 'MY DOCUMENTS' Windows folder and use them frequently rather than scrolling through hundreds of documents which may contain letters, pictures, music etc.
At the moment there are 2225 threads in the Hand Tools and Machinery forum containing 21,031 posts. Jointer = 274, thicknesser = 300, bandsaw = 188, lathe = 153.
I think those numbers indicate a need for more specific sub-forums and I can't see anyone having a logical objection to clicking on a Machinery heading and being able to find a sub-forum dedicated to Tablesaws.

[outback]

Hmmph, whilst I thought my original input into this thread showed great thought, it seems it upset someone so got deleted, not to be put off by a minor inconvenience I'll have another go.

The problems with too many forums related to too specific subject matter are, as I see it at least as follows.

1. Input into these forums follows what happens in real life, a conversation meanders and changes subject along the way. At no time does someone blow a whistle shake his finger and make everyone talk about the original topic.

2. Some of the best input and most valuable information comes from this meandering. Someone follows a thread regarding say, saw blades, it drifts onto saw types, tables, and then fences, at this point someone jumps in with his or her own ideas and mods regarding a fence they have. Everyone shouts Brilliant and goes to the pub happy.

3. Too many forums, sub forums, dedicated forums will lead to the need for a Phd in forumism and the requirement to search for which forum is required before a search for a topic can be under taken. Woe betide any poster posting in the incorrect forum.

4. Whilst hijacking takes place, and yes my hand is up as a major contributor to this, the thing that sets this forum apart from others is the way in which banter, jokes, and jibes are allowed. I implore Neil, and others not to take this away and become forum nazis.

[Jack E]

would it be possible to have a "tool review" forum which is locked once the first one has been posted?

This is so that tool reviews can be posted but the thread remain uncluttered and much easier to search.

When searching for a specific items such as a Ryobi Thicknesser you end up with so many threads it takes a loooong time to get the info you need particularly when the thread gets hijacked or full of $#@.

I don't know whether to agree or not. It is getting more and more difficult to wade through the crap but as Outback said, this sets the forum apart.

Perhaps a thread dedicated to reviews only.
All the opinions, recommendations, discussion and hijacking could continue as normal.

If it aint broke, don't f*@k it, but improvements and additions are okay.

Cheers, Jack.

[adrian]

Hmmph, whilst I thought my original input into this thread showed great thought, it seems it upset someone so got deleted, not to be put off by a minor inconvenience I'll have another go.

The problems with too many forums related to too specific subject matter are, as I see it at least as follows.

1. Input into these forums follows what happens in real life, a conversation meanders and changes subject along the way. At no time does someone blow a whistle shake his finger and make everyone talk about the original topic.

2. Some of the best input and most valuable information comes from this meandering. Someone follows a thread regarding say, saw blades, it drifts onto saw types, tables, and then fences, at this point someone jumps in with his or her own ideas and mods regarding a fence they have. Everyone shouts Brilliant and goes to the pub happy.

3. Too many forums, sub forums, dedicated forums will lead to the need for a Phd in forumism and the requirement to search for which forum is required before a search for a topic can be under taken. Woe betide any poster posting in the incorrect forum.

4. Whilst hijacking takes place, and yes my hand is up as a major contributor to this, the thing that sets this forum apart from others is the way in which banter, jokes, and jibes are allowed. I implore Neil, and others not to take this away and become forum nazis.

I'm assuming that your post was in respone to mine. Apologies in advance if it wasn't.
You seem to have misunderstood my post. The fact that threads get hijacked is irrelevant. I wasn't talking about individual threads, I was talking about sub-forums. If you had a specific sub-forum on the most common pieces of machinery (for example) you don't automatically lose the ability to hijack a thread.
If you have a tablesaw sub-forum under the machinery forum then you can almost guarantee that all threads started in that forum will be about tablesaws. It doesn't matter whether the thread eventually gets hijacked as long as all the threads start out in the relevant forum. At the moment it's a real dog's breakfast. If you have a look on the General Woodwork forum you will see the following threads "The Jet-JWSS-10 table saw", "Sliding compound mitre saw ", "*** TSC-10HB Owners Please Read *** ". The presence of those threads in that forum means that anyone wanting info about table saws will have to search the entire board (not just the machinery forum) and trawl through 391 posts dating back to 1999. Most of which will be garbage where the word tablesaw is mentioned with no other information.

Quote:
"Too many forums, sub forums, dedicated forums will lead to the need for a Phd in forumism and the requirement to search for which forum is required before a search for a topic can be under taken. Woe betide any poster posting in the incorrect forum." Quote

I don't think you are giving users of the forum enough credit for being intelligent enough to grasp a simple concept. As I said, the idea of having a Machinery forum which has subforums such as Tablesaw, Bandsaw, WoodLathe etc is not rocket science and anyone who has used a filing cabinet can grasp the idea. It's the reason why filing systems were invented. The more information you gather the more precise your system of storage has to be.

The Woodworking Forum is becoming very popular and I think the UBEAUT guys already know that the volume of posts will eventually cause them to either pigeon hole them into various sub-categories or archive them. It would just be more sensible to do it sooner rather than later before the number of posts gets too large to make the search function effective.

[dazzler]

Hi Outback

What you say is correct. But all I am asking is one forum that is specifically for a review.

Solely dedicated to reviews so that if you are interested in a particular product you can find it. If you have a review then add it.

You are right that threads start out and then branch out in different directions and that is fine. Then comes the dribble and the stupidity but as you are keen to try and find out as much as possible about the product you need to wade through the crap. I am not asking to change the forums so those who want to post funny little replies can go ahead.

As you admit to being a hijacker of threads this may come as a surprise;

When this happens to the people who are genuinely interested in the discussion it really annoys them. It may get a little giggle from the hijacker but in the end just bores most stupid.

So here is my solution. A dedicated forum where this doesnt happen. There will remain enough open ones to pollute.

Dazzler

[craigb]

Well I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If you manage to convince Neil to set one up for you, it will be interesting to see how popular it becomes.

After all a forum is only any good if people actually use it.

It may get a little giggle from the hijacker but in the end just bores most stupid.

Speak for yourself.

[dazzler]

Well I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If you manage to convince Neil to set one up for you, it will be interesting to see how popular it becomes.

After all a forum is only any good if people actually use it.



Speak for yourself.

Sorry Craigb,

I THINK that most people who are genuinely interested in a topic get bored with the crap. That is probably why most just die away once the crap starts.

Thats what I think.

Sorry to anybody who I was presumptious enough to speak for.

cheers

dazzler

[knucklehead]

Dazzler sounds to me that what you really need is a blog.

If you "lock" a forum after a couple of entries its not a forum.

[dazzler]

Please explain what a blog is? Dont call it a forum call it a..........review section!